Abstract: Image defects in a digital image are reduced by a process comprising providing a digital image data set in the form of a matrix of pixels; selecting a sub-matrix comprising at least a 5×5 matrix of pixels; identifying a pixel within the sub-matrix to be treated as a central pixel; determining a value for at least one optical property in the central pixel; selecting at least four pixels around the central pixel as averaging pixels, at least two of the averaging pixels being in a position in the sub-matrix that is not adjacent the position in the matrix of the central pixel; determining a value for the at least one optical property for the at least four averaging pixels; averaging the values for the at least one optical property for more than one of the at least four averaging pixels to provide an average treatment value for the central pixel; assigning the average treatment value for the central pixel to the central pixel; and storing the average treatment value assigned to the central pixel.